High school teachers put off job action deadline to Sunday

Public high school students across Ontario are bracing themselves for a possible labour disruption, as secondary teachers in the province eye a Sunday deadline for potential job action.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation had told members in a legal strike position to take "administrative" job action beginning Wednesday, but decided to delay the sanctions until just before midnight Sunday.

The union postponed the job action as talks resumed with the province to work on potential resolutions to its dispute.

Some of the responsibilities that would be affected include supervising students in the hallways and in the cafeteria, and participating in parent interviews outside school hours.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's Director of Education, Jennifer Adams, said principals and vice-principals would be asked to monitor the halls.

Administrators to monitor halls in event of job action

"I certainly would like to tell parents that the board is very committed to keeping our schools open, and we'll do that as long we can ensure the safety of our students," said Adams.

Adams said there are no negotiations planned between the board and local teachers before the deadline.

The union is considering job action as a protest to legislation passed earlier this year which limited the ability of teachers' unions to strike, cut benefits and froze wages.

Students at Glebe Collegiate said they understand the protest but hope the two sides can come to an agreement.

"I just hope they can come to some sort of adult decision and everybody's not trying to either stonewall the whole thing or take away other people's right to negotiate," said student Euan Fraser Tait.

Fellow student Osita Henry Uwechia said he sympathized with the position of the teachers.

"If teachers take action, it helps the cause," he said. "And I feel like some students have been more focused on themselves when there's a larger picture."